In color photography today advanced technology has developed into rather sophisticated procedures. Included is the laser separation process directed particularly to the four color printing field. Laser separation permits the separation of the colors into four basic primary colors which are then utilized in developing and printing procedures to arrive at a high quality printed color product. Various procedural steps include progress proofing, stripping and composing, plate burning or making, and printing. At all or any one of these stages it is desirable to check the quality of the color reproduction so that color standards are maintained at the highest level.
In particular, in color printing operation, it is a difficult procedure for the printer to monitor inks of different colors supplied to the press so that the finished proofs are consistent and have the highest desirable quality of color reproduction. In fact, today the printer operates mostly by trial and error. If he finds that the color is not as it should be, he makes random adjustments to the press until he gets an acceptable proof. This is a time consuming and costly process. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that once he obtains a satisfactory proof the color conditions will remain constant through a long run of a large number of color prints. The printers do not have means to monitor and periodically check, analyze and control the colors so that a high quality product is obtained throughout the printing process. At present if the printer does make periodic checks and finds an unacceptable grade of product he must once again randomly and by trial and error adjust his press. It is clear that this procedure is unacceptable and does not enhance the standards in the printing field.
Various attempts have been made to provide additional controls for use of the printer or by an operator in the pre-printing procedure to analyze and adjust color characteristics. This primarily had to do with ink conditions. One way in which the color is monitored is by the density of the ink of the various colors on the printed proof. There are various procedures for using a densitometer to check the ink densitites on the proof. This provides one way in which proper adjustment of ink can be accomplished. However, density of ink is not the only reason why proofs do not conform to the color characteristics intended.
It is clear that there is a need for better and more versatile color control systems with color separation, developing and printing industries so that all phases of color conditions can be monitored, checked and adjusted during common procedure to provide a higher quality product more consistently. Also, it is desirable to provide a system which decreases the time needed for adjusting a printing press including the setting up of a press for proper operation and the maintenance of proper operation over an extended period of time to provide a uniform high quality product throughout the printing procedure.